


Ace Combat 7.1: Thin Strand of Hope

by MaverickSawyer



Category: Ace Combat
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Post-Canon, Slight Canon Divergence, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-10-19 03:25:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17593709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaverickSawyer/pseuds/MaverickSawyer
Summary: In the aftermath of the Lighthouse War, the continent of Usea has been left in chaos... again. It's up to Trigger and his new friends to help pick up the pieces.





	Ace Combat 7.1: Thin Strand of Hope

**Prologue**

_31 October, 2019_  
_2219 EET (Eastern Erusia Time)_

As soon as she regained conciousness, Princess Rosa Cosette D'Elise knew she was in the infirmary of the _Admiral Anderson_.  
It wasn't the fact that there was a blood monitor clip on her right index finger, or the fact that the bed she was resting on was tipped slightly up at the head. Nor was it the quiet background noise of the monitoring equipment. Even the fact that she had something wrapped around her left wrist and right ankle didn't provide the pivotal clue. All of them could have been from an ambulance, or aboard some other evacuation vehicle, or even in a regular hospital.  
It was the smell.  
Cosette had visited many hospitals over the last few years as part of her duties as the Princess of Erusia, and she had always noticed the distinctly astringent smell of the industrial antiseptic used on every surface. The same smell now filled her nose, along with hints of sea spray... and the relatively new, but increasingly familiar, scent of aviation lubricants and fuels that she had come to associate with the military. She could only think of one possible location that could produce that particular mix of smells: the grounded Osean supercarrier. She slowly started to open her eyes, only to wince at the bright light in the room, making a pained hiss as she shut her eyes again.  
"Ah, you're awake. How do you feel?"  
_Must be a doctor or a nurse_. Cosette realized that her mouth was dried out. "Thirsty."  
"Okay. Hang on, I'm going to shift the ox meter to your left hand. Let me know if it hurts, okay?"  
Cosette nodded. _They must be a nurse_. The pressure from the clip on her right index finger was removed, and it returned moments later on her left hand.  
"How's that? Is it okay?"  
Another nod.  
"Okay, I'll go get some water for you. Anything else?"  
"Bright."  
"Oh, right, the lights. One second." There was a soft click, and the light coming through Cosette's eyelids dropped significantly. She opened her eyes again, and found the light levels to be much less painful. "Thanks."  
"No problem, miss. I'll be back with some water in a moment." The owner of the voice, now revealed to be, as she had expected, a nurse, left through a hatch, further confirming her guess as to her location.  
Cosette began to take in her surroundings in more detail. There were several other beds in the room, but all were currently empty. She wasn't sure she should be thankful for there not being that many injured refugees... or concerned that there may be more dead than injured.  
Turning to her own condition, she noticed a brace wrapped around her wrist and forearm, and though she couldn't see it due to the blanket draped over her, she could tell another brace was wrapped around her right ankle, likely due to whatever was causing the ache she now felt from the area. Other aches now began to manifest themselves... her left wrist, which was an obvious one, but also her left shoulder, and a significant part of her left side. Other, more focused pains were on her face... _possibly cuts? But from what? I had a pressure suit helmet on..._ Clearly she had survived the jump down from the space elevator, but all she could remember was making the jump, and shortly thereafter, there had been a flash of something, then... nothing. She couldn't remember anything until moments ago when she woke up. _What happened?_  
Her musings were interrupted by the arrival of a new person, possibly a doctor. He had a cup of water in his hand. "Sorry about the delay. I wanted to check in on you now that you're awake." He handed her the water, which she gratefully took a long drink from. Sure, her hand was shaking so badly that a fair portion of it missed her mouth entirely and ran down her face and neck... but it felt so _good._ After a few moments, she handed the water cup back, and the doctor put it on a nearby stand. "Better?"  
"Yes. Thank you. My mouth was so dried out..."  
"Yeah, pure oxygen can do that. Glad to see you're awake, though. How do you feel?"  
"Lots of aches, like... really bad bruises? All up and down my left side. If that makes sense?"  
"It does. Can you recall anything from the jump?"  
"Not really. There was a flash of something right before I blacked out, but... That's it."  
"Huh. Well, that does clarify some of what happened. All we had was some eye witness accounts from the ground, but that is of limited utility when they are trying to watch something several miles above."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well, do you remember the two new drones turning up?"  
Cosette's face paled. "What new... Wait. Two, you said?"  
"Yes. Why?"  
"Oh, God. We were too late. _I_ was too late." She tried to get out of the bed, only for the doctor to stop her.  
"Ma'am, please. You're in no shape to go anywhere right now. We do know that you landed badly, which, now that you've said you were already unconcious at that point, makes things a lot clearer. And it does raise the possibility of cranial trauma, or a concussion."  
Cosette sighed and settled back onto the bed. "What happened after the drones arrived?"  
"Well, as best we can tell, you fell down into the path of the drones as they attacked a fighter. There was an explosion of some sort from the attack, and from what you told me, you must have been in the blast radius, which would explain the bruising along your left side, and possibly even explain the smashed faceplate of the pressure suit you were wearing. All told, you're lucky to be alive, let alone in one piece."  
She ran her fingers across several of the cuts on her face. _So, that's where those came from._.. "My shoulder?"  
"Ah, yes. It was dislocated. One of the people who rescued you managed to properly reset it shortly after you landed, but there's some residual inflammation. According to one of the pilots, it's possibly due to you entering a high-speed spin at altitude, or it could have been from the blast, or a combination of the two." He shrugged. "You'll need to keep it in a sling for a few days, and be gentle with it for a few weeks, but it will heal up fine." He pointed to her ankle. "You rolled your ankle on landing, and we're not sure where you sprained your wrist, but again, they'll heal up just fine in a few weeks. Some off-the-shelf ibuprofen will help with both the pain and the inflammation for the first few days." He stood up. "Is there anything else I can do for you at the moment?"  
"Not really, no."  
"Get some rest, ma'am." The doctor stood and headed for the hatch.  
"Wait. Do you know when they intend to go after the drones?"  
"I'm... not sure I understand."  
"The new drones... they need to be destroyed, or they will continue the war."  
"I.. honestly don't know when. I'll look into it, though."  
"Could you make sure that someone wakes me up before they go? I'd like to see the pilots off."  
"I'm not terribly excited about letting you out of the infirmary so soon... but yes, I'll make sure of it."  
"Thank you." As the doctor left, he closed the hatch to close off the noise from the ship beyond, and Cosette lay back down on the bed. Before she drifted off, she had a brief recollection of a glowing red electronic eye staring at her. From where, she wasn't sure... but it was unsettling. Thankfully, sleep came swiftly, and all thoughts of the rogue drones were soon banished by a dreamless sleep.


End file.
